aDorkable:
Callie -- Chocolate is one of the luxuries I allow myself, and there seem to be so few now. In the past, when I drank soda (now I might have one or two every 6 months, usually at lunch), I could drink Mountain Dew, a whole big glass of it, then go brush my teeth and go to bed. I haven't seen an effect from chocolate or caffeine in my regular dis/ability to sleep. I do, however, drink tea (more so in the summer). I'm fairly certain that I drink decaf (or will be drinking decaf).
"I haven't seen an effect from chocolate or caffeine in my regular dis/ability to sleep." -- yeah, you probably ARE -- it's called sleeplessness or an inability to STAY to sleep.
Different caffeine's can 'feel' different. Coffee caffeine doesn't make me jittery - -I just plain can't go to sleep or stay asleep. TEA? hooo boy -- I LOVE it (and it has zero calories *sigh*) BUT tea caffeine will literally give me an unpleasant shakey feeling inside. Didn't used to be that way but it is NOW. And again, I'll have to drink it super watered down.
"Chocolate is one of the luxuries I allow myself" Try carob. or try something else -- chocolate will likely keep ME awake more than anything else and that's SUX because if we go out for a nice dinner, I can't have a splurge dessert because ... dang chocolate keeps me awake. ONE piece of Godiva will wire me any more.
What I'm really saying is -- your body changes as you mature. (Sorry folks -- "mature" is an ongoing process til death do us part -- and unfortunately for me, it often has little to do with my behavior *sigh* pffffftttttttt)
True story --
Back when I was about 19 I worked in a factory as a time keeper. NO trouble sleeping at all (finding enough time TO sleep was the problem b/c I worked two jobs and a double shift at one of them). But I'd get to work at 4:30 a.m. and the morning shift "line" would all buy me cups of coffee and park them on my windowsill in my "cubby" and I'd drink ALL of them before they got cold. Woke me up and man, I could get right to work. Drank coffee most of the day ... but I got to the point where my hands would shake and I felt really agitated. Never thot about it and went to the dr. who asked me how much coffee I drank ...
Needless to say he unplugged ME ... *sigh* but as I've aged (not gracefully, ok? I never claimed to grow older gracefully) but I've seen my self change radically in how I deal with food and drink.
I used to see food as a "reward" or an indulgence or a luxury -- but you know what? Being sleepless and then worrying about everything in the world tends to make everything blacker and harder than it needs to be and the luxuries I allowed myself tended to actually exacerbate the very problems I was trying to escape from ...
And the thing that was REALLY hard for me to deal with was the knowledge eventually that the very things I was using as a "luxury" were actually a prison -- because if I tried to go without chocolate it was all I could think about ... or I'd get a headache or ... it was as if it was more a "control" than it was a luxury.
Now if I want something "sweet" I'll either splurge on fruit (NOT an apple -- an apple is about as "special" as ... nothing ... but something like strawberries or raspberries) ... OR if you have a freezer at your disposal then try something like sorbet. Something a bit rich and exciting to the taste.
I have a feeling if you really examine it you may find that the refined sugars and caffeine in chocolate may truly be part of the trigger to your sleeplessness. The only way you'll know is change ... and a one night change won't do it (particularly if you are feeling 'deprived' which will make you sleepless)
Another time in my life (I'd gone back to school when I was 30 and I was working at the school part time) every day after lunch I would bring candy back from my lunch break -- either M&Ms or Jolly Ranchers (the hotter the cinnamon the better mmmmm) but every day at work about 3:00 I was getting the WORST migraine. I kept thinking it had to do with the fluorescent lights or the glare from the paper, but one of the ladies I worked with pointed out to me that most every day I had candy at my desk (I always shared) -- I used to make it "last" all afternoon usually but I always had something.
Lo and behold -- I didn't bring candy for a few days and .. wow -- no headache. It really drove home a point to me that something habitual like that usually has other effects. At that time I'm pretty sure stress was a major player too BUT in order to cope I caved and stopped the candy. I wasn't happy but it did work. And you may find getting better rest will help your stress level.
I know ... none of this is "good news" and it's NOT the kind of thing you're going to want to hear. And I'm not preaching at you .. it's only what *I* have found and man, I hate it when stuff like this wrecks what little fun I might be having. But I've learned to simply plan for it ... and then when I literally make time TO enjoy it when it won't mess with my schedule it really IS an enjoyment.
Try taking a fresh look thru the grocery store -- look for something else that is as much a "treat" but maybe just ... well, something you don't usually do. Like a frozen fruit bar, or Animal Crackers or cashews (oops, I'm going to name all my own guilty pleasures here). Stuff that won't wreck your sleep but will still be a treat.
I still think one of the saddest days in my life was when I discovered Barq's root beer had freaking caffeine in it. *sigh*